On Thursday, January 17th, members of The Caucus of Working Educators made a series of public requests of Dr. Hite and the School Board to formally endorse this year’s Black Lives Matter Week of Action in schools.

Over 30 districts and unions around the country have already thrown their full support around the BLM Week and the demands that must be met in order for Black and Brown students to have access to the schools and the education they deserve. Our hope is that Philadelphia will join the ranks of organizations who are unafraid to say that Black Lives Matter.

After hearing these powerful statements from educators and parents, School Board President Joyce Wilkerson made the following statement to the The Philadelphia Tribune:

“We support and encourage our teachers to responsibly engage students around important issues to develop critical thinking skills and a respect for the exchange of ideas. While Black Lives Matter in Action Week is not in the official curriculum of the district, we certainly support our teachers in this endeavor.”

We implore the School Board to take the next step and officially endorse Black Lives Matter Week at school! Check out the statements and videos of last week’s testimony below.

In 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin a hashtag erupted into a movement. Alica Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tomati created #BlackLivesMatter. A way for local organizers to pull together and continue the fight for Black lives. Because let's face it, we our under attack. And this attack has not ceased since we were kidnapped and brought by force to this country. In fact, the attack on brown and black bodies has been a global issue since ever. It is for this reason that we must continue to unearth the truth and share it without making it clean or easier to digest.

Philadelphia and many cities around the country are planning the National Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools. And I sit here and wonder if it is enough. Have we fully actualized the 13 guiding principles of this movement? Principles like Diversity, Loving Engagement, Collective Value, Queer and Trans Affirming, Black Families, Black Women and more? Have we? The answer is a resounding NO.

This past week, 35,000 members of the United Teachers of Los Angeles made history as they went on strike for the first time in 30 years. How did they make it happen?

This strike has been years in the making. Our allies from the Union Power Caucus in Los Angeles lead UTLA with a vision of organizing, building rank and file power and social justice. In organizing for this strike, the UTLA rank and file, through the support of their leadership, have built deep structures for communication and connection with each other that have made this strike so powerful. They have garnered the support of families and students across the city and the support of school-based support staff in SEIU Education Workers United Local 99.

UTLA have developed a strike platform for a fair contract that is about fighting for the future of our public schools. They are unwilling to settle for working and learning conditions that continue to do a disservice to their students and educators. As President Alex-Caputo Pearl stated in their press conference given on Sunday evening, UTLA “will be on strike for as long as necessary."

All Philly educators, parents, students, and community members are welcome to come to our WE Committee Meetings. All committees have been started by everyday Philly educators with the goal of bringing people together to share information, build connections, and take action- if you see something missing, we hope you'll start your own!

On Monday, December 10 from 4:30 - 6:30, the Caucus of Working Educators is hosting a community meeting to end toxic school conditions.

As we have moved through this school year, it has become abundantly clear that our schools are shells of the learning institutions they could be. Our students deal with trauma in their neighborhoods and are then asked to sit in classrooms that further their distress. Many of our buildings are uninhabitable, from the lead, asbestos, and the crumbling, leaky ceilings to a lack of heating, cooling, and ventilation. In the neighborhoods, the gun violence and housing instability make the day to day lives our students even more treacherous; Philadelphia’s children are being asked to do too much! Collectively, teachers and parents have to demand better for our kids.

But there are steps we can take to get what schools need. Ending the 10-year tax abatements, demanding an increase in social workers and counselors in schools, and pushing for an eradication of lead and asbestos in ALL schools can be accomplished if we work in unison. We want to bring together people in the city who are ready to take action.

On Monday December 10th, join us from 4:30-6:30pm at The U School (2000 N. 7th street). The school is easily accessible via bus 3, 47, regional rail and the BSL. There will be speakers, snacks, and real ways to get involved. Click here to RSVP and share on social media.

As an elementary school crossing guard, Kenya Cannon takes children’s safety very seriously. Everyday, she shepherds students across her intersection and into Cassidy Elementary School, where they should be safe. But over the past year, Kenya has learned that Cassidy Elementary School is not a safe place for students or adults.

Last spring, the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that Cassidy is “perhaps the most toxic school in the Philadelphia system,” with elevated levels of lead, asbestos, and other asthma triggers. The report helped her make sense of the serious asthma attacks her son had been suffering, and she decided to transfer him to a different school with a safer building. His condition has improved considerably since starting at the new school.

But Kenya continues to worry about the hundreds of children who cross the street and enter Cassidy each day. How is the lead dust and asbestos affecting their short-term and long-term health? Why isn’t the School District taking action to protect students’ safety?

Determined to speak out on behalf of the children in her charge, Kenya signed up to testify at the November Board of Education action meeting. During the first snowstorm of the season last Thursday, she braved the snow and ice and spent two hours battling traffic in order to appear at the meeting. Arriving just after 6pm, she found that the meeting had ended early due to the weather, and she had lost her chance to speak before the Board. Here is what she planned to say:

Working Educators believes in grassroots organizing to get politicians in office that will support public education. The outcome of tomorrow's election will have an enormous impact on Philadelphia's public schools, and on PFT members. Pennsylvania's future governor and state legislature will be making big decisions about our ability to organize as a union and collectively bargain. They will make decisions about school privatization and whether or not to give away precious education dollars in the form of vouchers to private schools. And most importantly, they will make decisions about school funding!

There are many other amazing candidates to vote for in this electoral cycle, including many new candidates that are trying to flip PA state legislative seats blue for the first time in years! The educators and parents on WE's Political Committee sat down to talk to many of them about their political beliefs concerning education, and we are happy to ask you to vote for the following candidates:

Want to see how Philly educators will be spending their time to get out the vote? Last year we encouraged PFT members and our allies to run to be committee people, the very backbone of the Philadelphia Democratic establishment. Committee people are responsible for turning out the vote, but that also means they have the power to vote for candidates that are committed to public education. And WE won big!

Here is how some of our members are flexing their newfound political muscle:

Two weeks ago, the chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party made an unsubstantiated attack on Central High School History Teacher Tom Quinn.

His claim? That Tom was attempting the "liberal indoctrination" of his students.

The evidence? A grainy single photograph of a flyer that Quinn was accused of distributing.

The district did its due diligence investigating the "incident," and now Quinn is finally free to set the record straight.In his opinion piece for the Inquirer,he sets the record straight about that supposed flyer and gets to the heart of the attack: